The present invention relates in general to bullet pullers or apparatus for separating a bullet from a cartridge case, and more particularly for withdrawing bullets from the mouth of cartridge cases such that cartridges may be separated into their component parts.
In the manufacture of small arms ammunition, it is the practice of manufacturers to pull bullets from cartridge cases, either to reclaim ammunition failing to meet specifications, or for the purpose of production spot inspection or random quality control.
Various devices have been used to remove bullets from cartridge cases, but such devices have met with limited success in that the bullets were marred, scratched, or deeply scarred by the engaging jaws of the bullet puller machine, or such devices have been incapable of pulling blunt bullets, or any other type of bullet having only a short portion projecting from the cartridge casing. Furthermore, some of those devices or machines, as the one disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 2,369,255, are complex machines with many complicated elements such as hydraulically actuated chucks for gripping the bullet, and they are consequently expensive to manufacture and somewhat delicate in operation, without solving the problem of extracting from cartridge cases bullets having only a short straight portion projecting from the cartridge case mouth.